The social activist, who is on an indefinite hunger strike against the alleged irregularities in slum rehabilitation scheme of Golibar area of Khar (East), criticised the state government for “vested interests” in not cancelling the scheme.
Social activist Medha Patkar, who is on an indefinite hunger strike against the alleged irregularities in slum rehabilitation scheme of Golibar area of Khar (East), criticised the state government for “vested interests” in not cancelling the scheme.
She alleged that the developer was using pressure tactics on the chief minister, and this has resulted in the latter ignoring the agitation by the slum dwellers of Golibar.
On her fourth day of the strike, a pale-looking Patkar was still refusing any kind of medical attention. She met state government officials and home minister RR Patil’s envoy additional commissioner of police Madhukar Gavit.
“I told the government representatives that the police have been using arm-twisting tactics at the behest of the developer, and have ill treated the residents of Ganeshkrupa Society, a part of the Golibar slums, on a number of occasions. The agitators have never resorted to any kind of violence, but the police have time and again manhandled them,” said Patkar.
When asked about why the government was not cancelling the project, Patkar alleged that there was a lot of pressure on chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.
“When he could cancel the projects under the section 3K in Antop Hill and Chembur, why can’t he cancel the Golibar project? There are a number of residents protesting against Shivalik Ventures, the magnitude of the project also is much bigger, but the government has been ignoring it. This shows that there is some political patronage, which the developer is enjoying,” she said.
Patkar added that even opposition parties are not voicing their opinion about the alleged irregularities. “It is a well-known secret that the permissions to all the projects of 3K were given during Vilasrao Deshmukh’s tenure as chief minister. Now the man is sitting in the central cabinet. Clearly, there is some pressure on Chavan,” said Patkar.
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